It's tough to get any win in the National Football League.
It's even harder having to do it back-to-back weeks on the road.
Now, add in staying 2,337 miles away from home all week long in Cleveland, boarding a flight across the pond to London and playing a game just a few days later against a stout Titans team.
That's as tough as it gets, yet the Bolts managed to win back-to-back games under these circumstances, following up their rout of the Browns with a thrilling 20-19 victory over Tennessee at Wembley Stadium.
It was far from a pretty victory, but finding a way to gut it out after such a long road trip speaks volumes about the team's character.
"It's big because to be on the road for 10 days like this and pull out these wins, and to end it with this type of win, it builds character," said Jahleel Addae. "It builds grit. It builds confidence. If you can win one in this atmosphere after being away from home for 10 days, and to do it with a goal line stand, that's huge."
The Chargers deserve a ton of praise for gutting out both wins to improve their record to 5-2 heading into the bye, which is why Head Coach Anthony Lynn lauded the character of his team.
"(This says) a lot about the leadership we have in the locker room," Lynn said. "These guys had plenty of opportunities to get distracted, lose focus. We played in (tough conditions). We flew across country, played in Cleveland, stayed there and practiced. (We had) different facilities, bus rides (taking) 30, 40 minutes to an hour. These guys just stayed focused and showed up every day and did their jobs, very professional, and they executed. It was a tough win today, but over the last 10 days we got two W's, so we're satisfied with that."
Philip Rivers couldn't agree more with his head coach.
He's especially proud of the team's focus because they had every reason to become distracted.
"The big key for me after the Cleveland win (heading into the rest of the week was) can we maintain our focus and can we maintain our routine," he said. "(Just) find a way, and I think our guys handled that very well. I think it showed. Was it our best game all around? Probably not, but the name of the game is to score one more point than the other team, and we did that… That's as excited as I've seen a locker room postgame in a while, just the energy, because it's hard to win in this league and especially hard to win twice when you've been on the road for 10 days."
"(This win was) huge," added Tyrell Williams. "The position that we were in, we were 2-2 in the first quarter (of our season), and now we're on a four-game win streak. We're just rolling. (This trip was big) especially getting the bonding (and) being around each other for this long. I think it's big for us, and then getting some time with the bye week will be big (to rest). Then right back to it."
